Song of Solomon 2
Song of Solomon Chapter 2, Explained
The lovers exchange songs of springtime delight. The bride is a rose of Sharon and lily of the valleys; her beloved is an apple tree in whose shade she rests. His banner over her is love. He comes leaping over the hills and calls her to rise, for winter is past and flowers appear. They guard against the little foxes that spoil the vines, and she rejoices that she is his and he hers.
Key verses from Song of Solomon 2
“I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.”
Song of Solomon 2:1
“He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.”
Song of Solomon 2:4
What happens in Song of Solomon 2
The bride calls herself the rose of Sharon and lily of the valleys, and the beloved answers that she is a lily among thorns (verses 1-2). She likens him to an apple tree whose shade and fruit she delights in, and tells how he brought her to the banqueting house with his banner of love over her (verses 3-4). Faint with love, she rests in his embrace and charges the daughters of Jerusalem not to awaken love before it pleases (verses 5-7). Then she hears his voice as he comes leaping over the mountains like a young deer (verses 8-9).
He calls her to rise and come away, for winter is past, flowers appear, birds sing, and the vines give their fragrance (verses 10-13). He longs to see her face and hear her voice, and asks that the little foxes spoiling the vines be caught (verses 14-15). She declares that her beloved is hers and she is his (verses 16-17).
Where Song of Solomon 2 sits
This chapter continues the exchanged love songs of the Song of Songs, rich with springtime imagery. Traditionally Solomonic, it celebrates the awakening of love as a season of blossoming and invitation. On its plain level it honours the joy and mutual belonging of the bride and beloved. Readers in the Jewish and Christian traditions have also heard in its call to rise and come away the voice of God inviting His people into renewed nearness, an interpretation the passage suggests.
Themes in Song of Solomon 2
His banner over me was love. Brought into the banqueting house, the bride rests under a banner of love. The image gathers the whole relationship under one identifying standard: love. It is the flag by which she is claimed and protected, declaring publicly to whom she belongs and by what she is covered.
The invitation to rise. The beloved calls, rise up and come away, for winter is past. Love here summons; it does not merely admire from a distance. The passing of winter and the appearing of flowers picture a new season that beckons the beloved out of the old and into fresh nearness.
Mutual belonging. My beloved is mine, and I am his. The Song's most treasured line names a covenant of belonging in which each fully gives and fully receives the other. This reciprocal possession, secure and glad, is the heart of the love the poem celebrates.
How Song of Solomon 2 points to Jesus
Read first as a love poem, this chapter delights in springtime longing and mutual belonging, and that meaning stands. Yet many Christians have found in it, as interpretation and not prophecy, a portrait of Christ's love for His people. The banner over the bride is love, and the gospel proclaims that God so loved the world that He gave His Son. The beloved's call, rise up, my love, and come away, for the winter is past, has been read as the risen Christ summoning His people out of death's cold into the new life of His resurrection springtime. And the line my beloved is mine, and I am his voices the covenant Jesus makes with those who are His, who hear His voice and follow. Held modestly, the chapter's joy becomes a window into belonging to Christ.
A thought to carry
Love, in this chapter, both rests and rises. The bride reclines under the banner of love and is also called to rise and come away. Consider where you are being invited out of an old winter into fresh nearness. And treasure the line my beloved is mine, letting your soul rest in the security of belonging to the One who loves you.
A prayer. Lord, Your banner over me is love. I hear You calling me to rise from every cold season into new life with You. Let me rest in the joy that I am Yours and You are mine, and give my heart a springtime longing. Amen.
Want to sit with this chapter for yourself? Read all of Song of Solomon 2 in the King James Version, then open The Living Bread to ask any question about it and pray with others, free.
Questions people ask about Song of Solomon 2
What is meant by the refrain not to stir up love until it pleases?
Three times the bride charges the daughters of Jerusalem not to awaken love before its time. The counsel is that love, especially its passionate expression, has a proper season and should not be forced or aroused prematurely. Within the Song's celebration of desire, it sounds a note of wisdom and restraint, honouring love enough to let it come in its right time.
How have Christians read the call to come away for the winter is past?
On its own terms it is the beloved inviting the bride into the joy of spring. As interpretation, many have heard the voice of Christ calling His people out of a season of coldness and death into new life, especially the springtime of His resurrection. Offered modestly, this reading draws out the passage's note of gracious invitation without displacing its literal celebration of love.
Every chapter in Song of Solomon
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